US Senate unites over whistleblower's complaint against Trump

The whistleblower's complaint was being reviewed for classified material and could go to Congress by Thursday. The administration has blocked Congress from getting other details of the report.

Washington:The US Senate, in a rare bipartisan moment on Tuesday, approved a resolution calling for a whistleblower's complaint against US President Donald Trump to be turned over to Congress.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer proposed the resolution, which ordered the complaint be passed onto both Senate and House of Representatives select committees.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell offered no objection. At issue are Trump's actions with Ukraine.

According to the complaint, US President Donald Trump had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he is said to have asked for help investigating former US vice president Biden and his son Hunter.

Before the call, Trump ordered advisers to freeze $400 million in military aid for Ukraine prompting speculation that he was holding out the money as leverage for information on the Bidens.

Trump has denied that charge but acknowledged he blocked the funds, later released. The Trump-Ukraine phone call is part of the whistleblower's complaint.

President Trump has authorized the release of a transcript of the call, which is to be made public on Wednesday.

However, the administration has blocked Congress from getting other details of the report, citing presidential privilege.

The whistleblower's complaint was being reviewed for classified material and could go to Congress by Thursday, according to a person familiar with the issue who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.